1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a friction-coefficient estimating device and a friction-coefficient estimating method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various devices that handle a sheet-like medium have been conventionally proposed, such as image reading apparatuses and image forming apparatuses. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H2-138805, a technique related to a smoothness measuring device that measures smoothness of a target surface based on a detection result of a detecting unit that detects a light reflected at the target surface and a recording apparatus including the smoothness measuring device has been disclosed.
When a sheet-like medium is handled, it is preferable to have knowledge about a friction coefficient of the medium. For example, in a medium feeding unit that separates a medium from a plurality of stacked sheet media and feeds it one by one, it is possible to suppress double-feeding of the medium if the separation feeding can be performed with a separating force according to the friction coefficient of the medium.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a friction-coefficient estimating device and a friction-coefficient estimating method capable of estimating a friction coefficient of a sheet-like medium.